A Trip to The Mall
by EsmeraldaValiente
Summary: When the Ninja realize that they forgot to buy "professional" clothing for their new occupations as teachers, they, along with Sensei Wu and Lloyd, go to the mall to get some. However, and not surprisingly enough, they get sidetracked in the process. Takes place before the events of the Rebooted episodes.
1. New Teachers Need New Clothes

**A/N: Hello everyone and welcome to yet another story that I decided to get myself into. So one day, after a small conversation with my brother, I looked up in Google any stories that involved the Ninja having an adventure at the mall, but found nothing of the sort, which made me more determined to create that type of story.**

**So yes, this is the "canon characters go to the mall" fan fiction cliche. Well, I could have picked something worse to write about...**

**If the characters seem a little OOC, please forgive me for that. I sort of jumped into this idea as soon as I formulated a decent plot for it to follow.**

**I want to give some credit to my younger brother for having given me the idea for this particular fan fiction.**

* * *

**New Teachers Need New Clothes**

There were a few weeks left before school would start at Sensei Wu's Academy and Nya was just walking around her classroom, making sure that everything seemed in order. The wooden desks and seats seemed to be arranged as they should be, all the workbooks and textbooks have been organized neatly and put at the back of the classroom at their corresponding bookshelves, and there seemed to be enough calculators for the couple of mathematics and Introduction to Engineering classes that she would be teaching. Yup, this sure seemed like a great learning environment.

Now all that she need is to go purchase some new outfits that might seem to go well with the whole "teacher" image that she wanted to present in the following school year. As much as she'd rather teach class in her cute dresses, she wouldn't think that it would look very professional, now would it?

Her thoughts wandered over toward the guys, who have been dedicating this past week toward getting the lessons organized. Zane and Cole already have their lessons for the first few weeks of the semester already sorted out, but have been working on more lesson plans for later months. Jay and her brother, Kai, have finally started working on their lessons, since they had been procrastinating during the months after the Defeat of the Overlord.

She giggled to herself while exiting her classroom as she thought about Jay. Poor guy, he had been freaking out at the idea of having to present material in front of class 5 times a week for the remainder of his career as a teacher. It made him seem adorable, the way that he didn't realize that he could be good at it if he could just be himself in class.

Of course, she had tried to repeatedly reassure him that everything would be alright, that he would get his lessons in order and do well with showing them to his students. He reluctantly agreed last time she did that, which wasn't too long ago, considering that she had done so several hours ago while he had been stressing out trying to start on an Introduction to Physics Keynote.

She sighed as she turned the corner of the corridor which led toward the Teacher's Lounge room. She wondered if they also had their classrooms ready to go. She hate to see them leave that at the last minute!

When she opened the door, she saw the boys completely focused on their laptops and spinal ring notebooks, scribbling or typing down any notes of important information that they happened to find in their textbooks.

"Hey guys! How are you all doing?" she asked.

"Doin' fine sis," Kai replied without looking up from his notebook, his hand writing down information in a blur before pausing so that he could turn a page of his Teacher's Edition Ninjago History textbook.

"Almost done with this slide for English," Cole responds as he drums his fingers on his lap, his eyes glued to the laptop screen. "What does the Five Step Writing Process consist of again?" he muttered to himself before setting the computer on a spot on the couch next to him and pulling out a large English textbook to look it up in the index section.

"Same here," Zane replies, looking up at her with a triumphant smile. "I just completed the lessons for my Chemistry and Biology classes for the first month. I might even start on the second month just to be safe."

She nodded with approval, then glanced toward Jay, who was seated over at a table, glaring at a page of his textbook with intensity, his head balanced on his left hand. He glanced back toward his computer and rubbed his eyes before looking back to his book.

Was it just Nya's imagination or did he seem wearier than when she last saw him? His eyes seemed to be baggier than when she had talked with him in the morning and he looked as if he were going to fall asleep at any moment. Oh dear, she hoped that he was doing alright.

"Hey Jay, what about you? You look tired?"

He glances up from his work and sees her looking at her with concern, then smiled. "You know, just hanging in there."

"That's great," she said returning a smile, her gaze easing a bit. "How far are you?"

"I've got my first week for a couple of my classes."

"See, what did I tell you? You're going to do fine."

"Sure, you could say that, as long as I don't end up stuttering during a lesson."

She rolled her eyes as she said, "Come on Jay, don't underestimate yourself." She walks over to him, then pats his short, orange-brown hair. "You're probably stressing yourself too much. Hey, how about you take a small break from this." She takes a moment to think of her planned trip to get new clothing, then adds, "You want to come over with me to the mall? I need to buy some outfits for the school year and maybe you can distract yourself by visiting a couple of electronics stores." Then she gives his cheek a small peck as she whispers, "After I finish with shopping, we can hang out together for a little while before coming back. I heard that there is a new candy store that opened that sells freshly made cotton candy."She smiles, knowing that he wouldn't resist wanting to go with her, even if he was concerned about his progress on lesson planning.

He glances over at his work, then looks at her with an enormous grin. "Sure! It's just for a couple of hours, it can't hurt to go!"

"Wait, are we supposed to get uniforms just so that we can teach?" Kai asks, finally looking up from his notebook.

"Well what did you expect? That you'd be teaching in your Ninja outfit?" she scoffs.

"So does this mean that we have to wear something professional, like suits?" Cole interrupts.

"Wait, are you telling me that in the months that you had to get something to wear, you forgot? You of all people?"

Cole replies, "Well, I so busy focusing on planning all these lessons that it didn't really cross my mind."

"I didn't put anything aside for teaching," Jay admitted, smacking his palm on his forehead. "If I procrastinated on preparing lessons for school, then I obviously didn't prepare for what I had to wear."

Nya looked over at Zane and asked in a begging tone, "Please tell me that you aren't like the others, that you actually prepared."

Zane shakes his head as he replies, "No, I really didn't think that what I wore really mattered while I was teaching."

She closes her eyes and shakes her head in dismay. "You guys do know that with our new jobs, we have to look like we're actually teachers?"

"Hey, how about we go with you both over to the mall?" Cole suggests. "There's still time to get a couple of suits and shoes. I'm pretty sure that there's more than one store that is selling those types of clothes."

Kai nods as he says, "Yeah, come on sis. You could give us a ride over, right?"

She glares at him with narrowed eyes, then nods and says, "Sure, why not? After all, it would be embarrassing to see you guys strutting around here in your gi on the first day of school."

"Then it's settled!" Cole exclaims, a relieved expression on his face. "I guess that we're all going to the mall."

Jay whispers over to Nya, barely able to hide his disappointment, "Does this mean that we aren't hanging around with each other anymore?"

She smiles as she replies, "No, I'll make the time to spend with you on the trip."

He grins, relieved.

Kai gets up and closes his notebook, saying, "I'd better tell Sensei that we're leaving. He might get concerned if we don't tell him that we're all going to the mall."


	2. Great, More People Are Coming

**A shout out to ShinyShiny9 for having given me a great idea with her comment! Thank you so much! :D**

* * *

Great, More People Are Coming

When Kai opened the door to the Headmaster's office, he was surprised to see Lloyd next to Sensei Wu, both leisurely sitting back in leather seats, each with a steaming cup of black tea in hand.

"Oh hey, Lloyd!" Kai greets as he closes the door behind him, then walks toward them.

"Hi Kai!" Lloyd responds, setting down his cup for a moment to shake his hand.

"I haven't seen you in a while. What brings you here?"

Sensei Wu takes a sip of his tea before saying, "He just came to stop by and see how the new school was doing."

Lloyd nods in response. "Yeah, and so far, I think that you guys are doing a great job." He laughs lightly, adding, "At least for amateurs."

Kai chuckles, saying, "Well, we're doing our best with what we learned. I mean, we're not exactly professionals."

"Yeah, Sensei told me here that you had to go into some sort of teacher training session over the summer."

Kai replies, running a hand through his hair, "It was more of a crash course. And I think the instructor was insane, because he kept waving a yardstick around and continually tried to smack us the first week every time we were acting like 'incompetent imbeciles'."

"You guys might've peeved him on the first day, so maybe he was just frustrated?"

Kai shrugs and says, "I don't know. I don't remember any of us making him mad."

Sensei cuts in, saying, "I don't mean to interrupt, but I remember correctly, you all happened to have overslept on that day, so you all were half an hour late."

"Yeah, but that was the first day," Kai retorts.

"Yes, and you all came in with your Ninja gi. After you were all told that you could dress casually for the sessions."

"Okay, so that might've been our second nature making us put those outfit on. Look, we were all running late and didn't really have time to think put together something decent."

Sensei sighs as Lloyd bursts out in laughter. "Wow, it sounds worse than you make it out to be." Then he looks over at Sensei Wu and asks, "So why didn't you think to hire actual teachers if you would've guessed that something like this would happen?"

"Hey, I take slight offense to that question," Kai says, crossing his arms.

Sensei shuts him up with a glance, then replies, "Well, my nephew, I didn't have the money to pay off even a couple of teachers for giving lectures to students, so I had to get the closest resources to make ends meet." He then turns to look over at Kai and says, with a dead serious face, "That and the fact that I couldn't just let my students sit around doing absolutely nothing after the Defeat of the Overlord. They'd just be mooching off of my resources and I need them around to be useful."

Lloyd takes time to think it over, then says, "Wow, yeah, I guess that sounds like a pretty valid reason. I mean, it would be pretty boring to do nothing all days."

"But what about training in case the Overlord happens to return?" Kai asks.

"It's been how many months since his Defeat, around 3. There are no signs pointing exactly where he is so that we can stomp him out and, even with Misako's efforts, nothing has yet been discovered relating to his return."

Kai sighs, saying, "Alright, I guess you have a point. Oh wait, I almost forgot to tell you, Sensei. Me, Nya, and the other guys are planning to go over to the mall so that we can get some clothes before school starts."

"Cool, that sounds like fun!" Lloyd responds.

Sensei Wu has a bothered expression as he says, "This sounds extremely unsettling. I can sense no good coming out of this."

Lloyd laughs as he says, "Uncle, you make it sound as if a simple trip to the mall is a recipe for disaster."

He shakes his head, replying, "Like you wouldn't imagine." Then he sets down his cup of tea and gets up, grabbing his staff, which leans against the hardwood table. "I must accompany you on your trip to make sure that no property or people get damaged."

Kai facepalms, then says, "Okay then, if you think that we need to be chaperoned over to the mall, then fine, be my guest. I swear that even if you didn't come along, we would've behaved. Come on, we're all just responsible adults purchasing clothes."

"I would believe you if you were just referring to a couple of people, like Zane or Nya. But, since it is all 5 of you, I don't."

"Hey, Kai, is it alright if I come along too?" Lloyd asks. "It's been some time since I've just hung out at the mall and I might happen to buy some clothes for the future interviews and events that I was scheduled for."

"Sure, why not," Kai says, barely able to hold in his jealousy for the fact that Lloyd was famous for the Defeat of the Overlord, although the others also did a fair amount of the work in taking the Overlord out. Then he mutters to himself, "Just another extra space being taken up in Nya's car. Boy, it's going to be cramped in there."


	3. Really? And on a hot day like this?

**Really? And On a Hot Day Like This?**

Jay paced back and forth impatiently while Cole and Zane stayed seated in a bench inside the enormous, yet sweltering hot outdoor garage as they all waited for Nya and Kai to come back from the main building. Nya had gone back to the building, saying that she had to get the keys to the vehicle they were going to drive. Unfortunately, Jay couldn't help but wish that they'd both hurry up. He was just itching to get out of this oven of a garage and into an air conditioned mall to spend the rest of this afternoon with Nya.

He wasn't the only one wanting to get out of here. The hot weather in particular was testing Cole's patience. Even in simple tank top and shorts that he chose to wear for the warm weather wasn't doing him any good.

Zane didn't feel the effects of the weather, with the exception of his internal system adjusting to prevent overheating. But he could sure feel his comrades' restlessness build up with every passing moment. He started worrying, wondering what possible effects the weather would have on them.

Jay stopped pacing for a moment, then leaned back against the wall as an enormous drop of sweat slid down his face. "Please come soon," he muttered, rapidly tapping his foot.

Cole reached over to a nearby worktable for a magazine and used it to fan himself. Then he turned to Zane and asked, "Hey, how hot is it?"

Zane took a few moments to calculate the temperature using his outer sensors, then replied. "It is approximately 89˚ Fahrenheit or 31.67˚ Celsius."

Cole sighed as he said, "I only needed to know one, Zane, and neither of them sound like something great." He fanned himself harder as he said, "I doubt that it will go down later today."

"Hey Kai, what took you so long?" Jay snapped as Kai came into view.

Kai replied, gesturing his hand behind him, "Well I had to bring along a couple of people." He then steps aside, revealing Sensei Wu and Lloyd wearing a black hoodie over his face.

"Sensei? Why do you want to come along?" Jay asked in surprise.

Sensei Wu took a moment to walk into the garage before replying, "I couldn't leave you all to cause trouble right under my nose, now can I?"

"Trouble?" Cole asked, looking at Sensei in confusion.

"Although you do not mean to cause any, I know that circumstances can make you do… questionable decisions."

Jay laughed as he said, "Aw, come on Sensei. We're just going to the mall. What kind of trouble do you think that we'd cause over there?"

Sensei just shook his head as he said, "Please, don't get me started on the list of very probable possibilities."

Kai whispered over to Jay, "It no use trying to convince him. The man has got his mind set on coming along."

"Great," Jay angrily muttered to himself. He knew that Sensei might endanger his date with Nya. Or at the very least make it extremely awkward if he were to try to make a move. Your master watching you try to flirt with someone you liked didn't make it very easy to do.

It just made it your attempt very embarrassing.

Cole glanced over to Lloyd, then asked, "Hey Lloyd, isn't it hot underneath that hoodie?"

Lloyd nodded. "Yes, it is. But if there is one thing that I've learned after being interviewed for the past couple of months is that there is always some demented fangirl on the lookout for me. I have to wear this thing so that my identity isn't revealed."

Cole cocked an eyebrow as he said "Are you sure that you aren't just being paranoid?"

Lloyd glanced at him with a very bleak look in his eyes as he replied, "I'm not. You can't even imagine the size of the crowd that accumulates in places that I've been. I don't even know how word gets out to where I am, but there is a rumor going around that there is an app that fans use to report where I am if they see me." He added with a shudder, "It's crazy, man."

Cole stares at him wide eyed. "Wow."

"Hey guys!" Nya exclaimed as she walked into the garage, wearing a light blue sundress that went down to her ankles, revealing a pair of low woven wedges. "Sorry if I took longer than I should've. I took a short shower and changed into something for the hot weather."

Kai looked at her, then said, "Wait, you went back?"

She nodded, then jiggled some keys in front of his face. "You think I'd leave these behind?"

He pushed them away, saying, "Alright, alright, but you should've said that you were going back to get them. And you call me last minute."

She laughed, then reached over and slid opened the door to a white van. "Come on guys, you're not going to have enough time to buy something for school if you keep sitting around."

Jay waved his right hand in the air as he shouted, "I call shotgun!" He ran over to the other side of the van and opened the front passenger door, then hopped in.

Cole glanced over to the vehicle that she chose, then groaned. "It's going to be hard for all seven of us to fit there."

She shrugged as she got into the driver's seat. "Well, I was planning for five people to come along for the trip. Besides, there aren't many choices for a vehicle with more space and there is absolutely no way that we are taking the new bus. It's going to be hard to find parking for something that big. You're all just going to have to squeeze in."

"Okay then, let's see how that works out," he said as he climbed in.

Kai, Zane, Lloyd, and Sensei Wu all followed as Nya fastened her seatbelt and put the key into the ignition. The door to the van was slid shut as she started the vehicle.

She looked back to see Zane and her brother having to sort of stand/crouch just to fit inside while the others took the passenger seats.

"Wow you guys look miserable," she said, noting that they were all, with the exception of Zane and Wu of course, sweating profusely.

"Of course we are!" Cole exclaimed, with the magazine still in his hand. "Zane said that it's 89˚ today."

Zane spoke up, "Actually, Cole, it just rose up to 92.5˚, since we are all packed in this van."

"Great, the ride over is going to be really hot," Kai complained. "Hey Nya, can you turn on the A/C? This heat is just unbearable."

She shook her head as she backed out of the garage, then used a remote control to automatically close the garage door. "I don't think so. We can't waste gas on turning on the air conditioner, especially with the mall being so far! The drive there and back is probably going to empty the gas tank as it is. You're just going to have to roll up some windows."

"But these windows don't 'roll up'!" he retorted.

"I meant that as figurative speech. But if you're going to take me that seriously, just pop them open, then."

Kai and Zane opened up the side windows for all they could, but, since they were van windows, they only opened up to a certain point.

"Okay, we're ready to go!" Nya exclaimed as she reached the road that took her to the mall. She stepped on the accelerator and sped off, catching Kai by surprise and making him bump into the left side of the van.

"Ahh!" he exclaimed as she took a sharp left, which made him veer left and bump into Zane."Sis, this isn't a high speed car race! Slow down, would you?!"


	4. Packed Parking Lot

**Packed Parking Lot**

"Okay guys we're almost there!" Nya announced as she slowed at the stoplight of a street near the mall.

"It's about time! I think that my arm is going to fall asleep." Kai said, his arm starting to feel numb from having held onto the handrail on the side of the van for what seemed like such a long time.

"Come on, Kai, it's only been less than half hour. Be grateful that traffic on the highway wasn't as bad as yesterday," she replied, rolling her eyes. She remembered well that she ended up being stuck in this particular section of the highway yesterday afternoon on her way back from having purchased last minute supplies for her classroom.

This of course was the same reason why the gas tank was almost empty, since she hadn't expected the traffic jam and waiting on the highway for an entire hour for traffic to clear up drained a good portion of the gas.

"I just can't wait to finally get into a cool, air-conditioned place," Lloyd stated, wiping a good amount of moisture from his forehead with the sleeve of his hoodie.

"Why didn't you at least take off that thing on our way here?" Cole asked, a concerned expression forming on his face. "You're going to get heatstroke if you keep it on any longer."

Lloyd hesitantly tugged off the hood of his sweater as he replied, "Someone can see me through the windows of the van. They aren't exactly polarized."

"I don't think anyone could have recognized you at the speed that my sis was driving at," Kai muttered before getting abruptly pushed forward as Nya pushed her foot hard on the accelerator when the light turned green.

"I'm sorry Kai, I didn't hear you that last thing you were saying. Can you repeat it again?"

Kai sighed as he regained balance. "Forget it."

"Hey, Sensei," Zane said as he turned to look at Sensei Wu, who had his eyes closed in deep meditation. "Exactly what type of attire would you suggest that we purchase?"

Sensei Wu opened his eye and took a moment to think about Zane's question before answering, "Considering the fact that you are all the face of the new school, I would strongly recommend 'Business Formal'. Possibly even 'Business Casual' or 'Dressy Casual' as long as it looks professional."

This statement earns blank stares from almost every person in the vehicle, excluding Nya, since she is too occupied keeping her eyes on the road.

"Come again?" Jay says, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"Whoa," Lloyd gasps, staring at his uncle with disbelief."I didn't even know that there were different categories of casual!"

"I think I only understood the first one, 'Business Formal'. It's a dark business suit with a dress shirt, tie, and optional matching vest," Cole pointed out, remembering this stuff straight from the memories of when his dad, Lou, would get dressed up in such manner to attend special events to perform with his quartet group.

"Correct, Cole. I'm glad to see at least one of you was not completely caught off guard by the terms I used," he says, slightly nodding with approval, then looks over to the others. "However, I was expecting more out of you all. To think that, in the adult world that you are all about to enter, you still don't know what I was talking about. I guess that you are all still going to need some 'hand holding'."

"Let me explain," he starts as Nya enters the parking lot of the shopping center. "'Business Casual' would refer to an extra option that ladies, like Nya, would have. It consists of a dress or an open collar shirt with either khakis or pants. 'Dressy Casual' for men would be a seasonal sports coat or blazer with a button-down shirt and slacks with the optional tie. For women, it's could be a blouse with nice slacks or a dress. Do you all understand?"

When Sensei glances back to see the reactions of his students, he sees that they all still look absolutely lost.

"Nevermind what I said," he says, shaking his head with disapproval. "I guess that I'll have to show you some examples when we are inside the mall."

"Err, Sensei, it might be a while before we can even get inside," Nya interrupts.

"What makes you say that," Kai asks.

"Just look outside."

Everyone turned their glances to the nearest windows and saw what she meant. Every single parking spot seemed to be taken. The lanes were packed full of cars looking for a single free space.

"Oh come on!" Jay exclaimed, feeling that his date with Nya was never going to become a reality.

"This doesn't even make sense. Today's a weekday!" Cole added, trying to look farther into the parking lot for a spot, but every single one was occupied by a vehicle.

"Maybe it's because of the back-to-school specials that started a couple of days ago. Everyone is coming early to take advantage of them," Nya replied, staring at the daunting line of cars with frustrated drivers.

"We're probably going to be here for a good half-hour just looking for a space," Kai groaned. "And it's probably going to be pretty far from the mall."

In a sense, Kai was right. Nya spent the next 25 minutes going around lanes while the others were on the lookout for an empty parking spot. Unfortunately they were met with false leads and other competitive drivers who were also desperate to find one.

"Hey, I think I see an empty spot," Cole said, pointing toward a vacant space.

"Cole, if this is just another really small car in that spot, I am going to lose it!" Nya snarled. She was becoming very upset because all the false alarms that the guys kept presenting her with were making her stressed out.

"I swear, I swear. See," he replied as they drove closer to the spot. No one had yet claimed it.

"Yes!" Lloyd cheered. He had kept on the sweltering hoodie on the entire time, knowing that in a crowded mall there would be a higher chance of finding insane fangirls lurking around, and was holding out in hopes of finally being inside the mall, where the cold air would make wearing the hoodie bearable.

Just the memories of being chased by enormous crowds of them made him cautious enough to go through such extremes to maintain his identity a secret. His fear for crazed fanatics was so severe that he had to find private transportation to get here while the car that he was usually seen driving returned back to the luxury hotel without him. If he was correct, as of now, his fans would be headed over to the direction of that car, which meant that they wouldn't be expecting him here.

However, his experiences over the past months taught him that he could never be too prepared. So he carried a sweater in the complementary bag that the hotel provided him with, just to play it safe.

He willed himself to keep the thing just a little while more, remembering that it wouldn't be much longer until he could get out of here.

As Nya got the van ready to enter the space, suddenly, out of nowhere, a speeding yellow Hummer swerved in from behind the van and took the spot, literally snatching it from her grasp.

This made everyone in the van go in shock at what had just happened.

The sleazy driver of the over-sized vehicle quickly parked it, then turned off the ignition and stepped out, slamming the car door behind him and carelessly whistling a tune.

"Wow, so there is someone who is more of a reckless driver than my sister," Kai gasped.

Nya's facial features contorted as she finally registered what the driver had done. She had been driving around the parking lot with the other drivers for the past 25 minutes to get a spot so she could get the guys inside to get clothes appropriate for their job, which, by the way, they should have done earlier. And now this person thinks that he can just take the space that she had been waiting so long to find!

"Hey what's your problem!" Nya yelled out at him, her face reddening with fury. "Did you realize that I was going to park in there?!"

The driver turned around and, with a condescending glare, sneered, "You were getting in too slow." Then he shrugged apathetically as he said, "You snooze, you lose."

She let out a low, angry growl. How dare he! How dare he call her a _slow_ driver on top of having taken her parking spot!  


A moment later, another person growled loudly in unison, catching her by surprise and making her immediately stop.

Everyone turned to the source of this new sound and saw Lloyd literally glowing in a green aura as he got up, pushed Sensei Wu's restraining arm off, and slid open the van door.

"Oh no, this won't end well," Jay gulped.

"Hey," Lloyd called out, his glare aimed squarely at the cheaply dressed man. "We already had that spot."

The man turned around and smugly replied, "Well too bad kid. I'm already parked in there. There's nothing you can do about that."

"Oh really? Well how about you go find your own parking instead of stealing it from people who have waited an eternity just to get it?"

The driver let out a challenging laugh. "Make me, you runt!"

Lloyd cocked an eyebrow as he put both of his arms in front of him and started charging a bright green ball of energy. "With pleasure," he coldly stated as the ball grew to it's full size.

"You're- you're- the GREEN NINJA!" The driver exclaimed.

"Nephew, don't do it!" Sensei warned, his eyes widening as Lloyd aimed it at the Hummer.

However, there was no need for any intervention as the driver ran to the car, started it, quickly backed out, and drove away, his tires squealing against the pavement and releasing a white cloud of smoke.

Lloyd stopped charging the energy ball and made it disappear, laughing as the car speed out of the lot.

"Woohoo!" Nya applauded, parking the van into the spot.

"Great job, Lloyd!" Kai yelled.

"Honestly, I would've preferred if you blew up his car," Jay added as he opened the door and got out. "He would've deserved it for what he did to Nya."

Nya blushed lightly in response to what he said and giggled to herself as she pulled the keys out of the ignition.

"Now, now, let's not be too rash," Sensei Wu replied after letting out a breath of relief. "It is fortunate that Lloyd had some self control and only intimidated the driver. Just imagine the costs I would've ended up paying if he really sent off that energy attack."

"Oh my gosh! Did you see that!" A scandalously dressed raven-haired girl nearby pointed out to her friend. "It's Lloyd! I mean, who else could make an energy ball like that!"

"No friggin' way!" her brunette friend squealed as she pulled out her phone and took a quick snapshot of him. "So he isn't at the Penthouse Hotel as the earlier updates said he would be."

The other nodded as her friend typed rapidly on her phone. "We are going to get serious bonus points from the Lloyd Fans United App once we send this out."

A horrified expression grew on Lloyd face and he sprinted off toward them. "No wait-"

"Done!" The brunette announced, an accomplished look on her face. "He's at the mall's parking lot."

"Oh no! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" he yelled out.

"Hi Lloyd," the other girl greeted, an enormous grin on her face. "We didn't know you were going to be here!"

Her friend put away her phone and did a little curtsy as she said, "It's an honor to finally meet you in person, Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon. We're a couple of your biggest fans!"

He stared at then in shock, then started running as soon as he realized that there would be more like them coming. "I can't take anymore of this!"

"Wait up, Lloyd!" she yelled out, her face falling in disappointment. Her phone vibrated and she pulled it out. After taking a small glance at the phone screen, she let out a squeal of excitement. "Alright! We already have 5 kudos on our 'Lloyd discovery'!"

The dark haired girl next to her shook her head. "Darn, I needed to get his autograph to show off to the others at my fan community. We have to catch up with him!" She sprinted after him, grabbing her tote bag full of notebooks.

The brunette looked up from her phone to the direction of the others, who were staring at her with mixed reactions. "Hey," she exclaimed in an irritated tone. "Do you have anything better than to stare at me?"

"Do you?" Cole replied, referring to the fact that both girls had literally been stalking Lloyd.

She rolled her eyes in disgust as she said, "Gimme a break. I'm on summer vacation!" Then she caught a glimpse of her friend, who was chasing after Lloyd, and ran off, trying to catch up with them.

"Oh, so the rumors about that fan app were true," Zane said.

Cole visibly shuddered as he asked, "Do you think that there's one for us?"

"I don't think so," Jay replied. "Neither of them even gave us a second glance."

"That's true." Cole nodded.

"That's a relief. Imagine putting up with that every time you have to go out in public!" Kai stated, then grimaced as he remembered how he was jealous of the fame that Lloyd was receiving. "Suddenly I'm not too sure that I'd like to be even partially credited for defeating the Overlord," he muttered to himself.

"Do you think that we should go back to help him?" Jay asked as he scanned the parking lot for a sign of Lloyd.

"If he was able to take down the Overlord, I think that he's capable enough to handle a group of fangirls," Cole replied.

"I highly doubt it," Zane muttered as he saw several girls run out from the mall building. "They seem to be coming out from all corners."

"Guys, what are you waiting for!" Nya called back from behind her shoulder as she started heading toward the mall. "The mall's going to close in three hours!"

The others followed her, except for Sensei, who shook his head.

"My predictions are just starting to come true," he murmured before walking toward them.

* * *

**If anyone was the least bit offended by my portrayal of fangirls, I would like to take this time to say that I am aware that not all of them are like that . It is only the select few that can reach that level of rabid fanatic. I am just doing this for some humor, but am trying to keep it in a way that makes the exaggeration minimally hurt anyone who is a fan of anything/anyone.**

**If I severely insulted you, then I sincerely apologize for doing so...**

**Really, I do.**


	5. Examples

**Examples…**

"My students, you all remember the conversation concerning the types of clothes that I advise you all would purchase," Sensei Wu asked as the group walked down the stairs leading to the main atrium of the mall. They stopped near an immense, bubbling, white washed fountain as Wu continued on, saying, "After my failed attempt back at the van, I realize that, instead of explaining a simple definition, I should take a more visual approach."

He looked around thoughtfully, saying, "We will first have to look around for a suitable store, a place where we can find quality clothing."

"Well, I do know a good store that sells quality professional clothing," Nya replied a moment later. "I think it's called-"

"No you don't," Wu interrupted, quickly placing a hand over her mouth.

"Mmph- mmph," Nya mumbled underneath his hand, then immediately removed it, glaring at Sensei Wu with annoyance. "Hey, Sensei, that was rude! What gives?"

"I apologize, Nya, for having committed such a disrespectful action. However, I cannot have you all going around advertising brands like human billboards." He shook his head in dismay, muttering under his breath, "Not only is it a disgrace, it is also very expensive."

"How exactly is that expensive?" Jay asked, having overheard what Sensei had said afterwards.

"Ah, don't you realize that you are all very well known?" the old master replied. "Having gained some fame from protecting Ninjago so many times, you have all become targets for corporate heads to use as advertising. Unfortunately, since you are naming brands and stores without the companies' permission, you are not exempt from being charged for the 'advertisement' by said companies." He stops for a moment then added, "In other words, I have to pay up for every brand name that you end up blurting out in public."

"Really?" Cole inquired, scratching his head in confusion. "Oh, come on, Sensei, you've got to be exaggerating."

Sensei Wu took a moment to pull a thick scroll of paper out from inside his robe's pocket, letting one end drop to the ground and roll off, leaving a long trail of paper extending up to the other side of the atrium. He pulls out thick reading glasses and directs his gaze at the small print on the paper.

"This is a list compiling the number of times that you have all happened to speak out in public of mainstream brands in the past year. A good portion of the brands that are said are video game titles, fast food franchises, major auto parts stores, online auction sites, and hair product brands," Sensei announced, looking over the list. He frowned as he rolled the scroll up to go back to something and squinted at the text. "No wait, Dareth usually is the one to say that last one. I must address that with him later, along with Lloyd."

"How much money does each time cost?" Nya asked, staring dumbfounded at the list.

"Hmm, usually not much, but it adds up over time," Sensei replied as he gathered up the list, then put it back in its original place.

"You know, it still doesn't make sense that we're all caught saying so many brand names," Cole said, still in shock at the fact that they were somehow being caught. "I wonder how they're able to do that."

Wu turned to look at Cole, replying crypically, "They have their ways."

Cole's eyes widened in surprise and he turned away from Sensei and said, "Ookay, that's really creepy."

"I wonder what sort of technique they'd use to survey us," Zane said to himself out loud.

"Who knows, but whoever follows up around for these reasons must be extremely dedicated to have compiled that long of a list," Jay replied. He tensed up as the thought of strangers stalking them in order to get more money out from them.

Kai frowned and asked, "Hey, Sensei, why didn't you tell us earlier about this issue? We probably could've tried to avoid that."

The old master looked as his pupil as he said, "You were preoccupied with other business and would probably be unnerved by the fact that people were watching over you. Besides, knowing you Kai, you probably would've tried to sniff them out and take action through force. I cannot allow that, knowing full well that they may take the opportunity to try to get me involved into a complicated lawsuit. Remember, I am fully responsible for all of your actions." Sensei them motioned them to move close. "Come along, now." Then, looking at Nya, he added, "Please show us the way and, this time, without mentioning anything copyrighted."

She nodded as she led the group toward the store, this time keeping a very cautious eye out for anyone looking at them for too long.

* * *

A man in a sloppy business suit sitting down at nearby bench cursed silently to himself as he put down a colorful tabloid that he feigned interest in.

It sounded as if that girl Nya was going to spill again. That old man has gotten craftier.

Worse of all, now that Wu revealed to the Ninja about the espionage that had been going on, it would be harder to try to listen to them mention brand names. This meant less money for him.

At the very least, Dareth and Lloyd still has not been informed. However, this would not last long, since Wu mentioned that he would do so later.

He pulled out a cheap silver flip cell phone and pressed a few buttons. He held the phone to his ear, tapping his foot impatiently until someone picked up.

"It seems like we may have to change our tactics, George. "

* * *

When they reached the store that must-not-be-mentioned, Nya announced, gesturing for dramatic effect, "Gentlemen, may I present you a place that can satisfy every one of Sensei's requirements!"

Their eyes scanned over the outfits on display, the white blouses gleaming underneath the bright light of strategically placed spotlights, the crisp dark colors of the blaziers, ties, and slacks coordinating with each other to make the outfits as aesthetically pleasing as possible.

"Hey, what would you know! This store's also having sales," Kai pointed out, clearly trying to avoid stating the name of the establishment.

A bright white banner with large red font exclaimed: THIS WEEKEND ONLY! 50% OFF SELECT OUTFITS! BUY TWO, GET ONE FREE SALE ON ALL STORE ACCESSORIES!

"This is excellent. These suits really fit with standards and seem to be within price range," Sensei commented, glancing at Nya with approval.

"Glad you think so," she replied with a satisfied smile. "They also have more casual items inside. They only complaint that I have is that there isn't a section for women here. It's mainly focused on men."

"How sexist," Jay commented and looked over to see if Nya agreed with him.

She made eye contact with him and smiled warmly as she replied, "Yep, but, don't worry, there are many other stores. I'm sure I can find something. We can all meet at the food court in an hour and a half."

"That's a relief," Jay added, then leaned in to whisper to Nya, "Hey, when are we going to go off to do our own thing."

"When we both get something. I'll come back in half an hour and we'll go find that store."

He grinned in anticipation, thinking of the promise of cotton candy and time with Nya. He couldn't wait till then!

She started walking off into another direction and waved goodbye to them. "Behave guys! You all wouldn't want to prove Sensei right, now?"

Kai smirked as he said, "Don't worry about us, sis. If we handled ourselves fairly well as children, then we can do so now."

They watched as she took an escalator to go find a store on the second floor.

"Well, lets get started," Sensei said as he walked into the store. The others followed shortly behind.


	6. A Close Shave

**A/N: Surprise update!**

**Wow, who knew that time would go by so fast? It seemed like not to long ago since I had last started this fic and now I come back to see that it is almost two years old and still not complete.**

**Dang. Sorry everyone!**

* * *

**A Close Shave**

From the back of the mall's shipping area, a figure in a black hooded sweater ran and then ducked behind a large eighteen wheeler. A girl with athletic build, dressed in a bright white and pink tank top, followed closely behind, her sneakers rapidly beating against the hot pavement.

She then carefully tiptoed around to the back of the unoccupied truck, an enthusiastic grin on her face. She was grateful for all the daily morning runs that she had done the past couple of years, because, unlike the other girls, she was still able to keep up with Lloyd at the speed that he was going.

She slowly crept up to the corner of the truck, then, barely stifling a giggle with one hand, peeked around the corner to discover-

No one.

"Huh?" She exclaimed loudly, blinking in bewilderment. She swore that he was headed this way when she last saw him.

She sprinted a circle around the truck, making sure to occasionally look underneath it, then scratched her head in confusion. Maybe he had gone around to the parking lot again.

The thought of losing him after having pursued him for so long motivated her to run at full speed toward the parking lot.

Moments after the girl had left, the same figure jumped from the top of the truck, expertly landing on the ground with a parkour roll. He quietly panted as he peeled away his hood, revealing a sweaty face with locks of sandy blond hair stuck on his forehead.

Lloyd eyes surveyed his surroundings as he wiped the excess moisture from his brow. After he was sure that all his fanatics were gone, he allowed himself of breath out with relief.

He had been running from those fangirls for so long that he actually lost track of the amount of time he spent fleeing from them. A quick glance at his watch informed him that he had been running around the mall for around twenty minutes.

He groaned as the muscles in his legs and core burned from the run. Despite all the physical conditioning that he did as the Green Ninja, he was pretty out of shape because the lack of training that he had right after his Final Battle with the Overlord. This was partially since that his leg had been severely damaged when he was fighting Overlord and, because of his doctor's orders, had a cast put on his injured leg. This didn't allow him to do any training for several weeks.

With a huff, he admitted that maybe he was pretty divided with all these interviews and awarding ceremonies that he had been scheduled for this month to really do any real workouts. All the time that it took being compromised with all those events, going from one place to another drained him mentally and physically, which discouraged him from training like he used to.

He rolled his eyes to himself as he though what his uncle would have to say about his justification for not training these past months. Sensei Wu would outright call his lack of motivation an excuse for crying out loud!

When he caught his breath, he tugged the hood over his head as he walked out of the parking lot. Where he would go from here didn't matter, as long as it didn't involve being around fangirls!

He licked his dry lips as he raced across the street just as the "walk" light finished it's countdown to zero. Man, he was really parched, he thought to himself. Must've been all the running that he's done the past half hour. He'd do anything right now to get a cool drink of water!

He looked ahead of the street that he was in and spotted a convenience store just several hundred feet away. He pulled out a wallet, stocked with a good amount of money, and strode faster toward it.

As he stepped into the store, he was relieved to see that the store was almost empty. He would have no trouble with fans here.

He walked over to the refrigeration units and pulled out a large bottle of water, then made his way to the check-out counter. When he saw that a middle-aged man was attending the counter, he was comforted further, since the majority of his fan base was composed of pre-adolescent girls. The fact that he didn't belong to that demographic almost ensured him that he wouldn't freak out over him being there. He smiled confidently. This transaction should go smoothly.

He put the cold water bottle on the counter and pulled out a bill.

The man looked at the bill with an apathetic glance, then looked up to him and said, "Sorry, but I don't have change for that much."

"Okay, I think that I have a smaller one here," Lloyd replied as he put the bill back in to his wallet and got out another one.

When he looked back up, he saw the man squinting him, a puzzled look on his face.

"Hey, aren't you that Garmadon kid that was on T.V. a couple of days ago?"

Lloyd froze just as he was about to hand the bill over to the man. He took a moment to consider if it was a good idea to admit his identity. He sighed as he uncomfortably muttered, "Yeah."

Then he unconsciously flinched, expecting some sort of exaggerated reaction from the man.

Instead, the man nodded with contentment as he said, "Yeah, thought that you looked familiar. Wow, I've never had a celebrity in my store. This is pretty… cool."

"That's good to hear," he said, feigning disinterest when, really, he wanted more than anything in the world to get out of here. He pushed the bill toward the man as he added, "Is this alright."

"Yeah, yeah sure," the man said as he took the bill and pressed some buttons on the cash register. He pulled out Lloyd's change and handed it to him, but not without saying, "Hey Floyd."

Lloyd almost rolled his eyes at the man's name mix up. "It's Lloyd," he corrected as he stored his change in his pocket and got his water bottle.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," he replied, waving off his mistake as if it was nothing. "Would you be willing to pose for a picture? I'd like to show my regulars that I was graced with the presence of a celebrity."

Lloyd glanced around the convenience store and wondered how delusional this man was to think he even had regulars.

He looked back at the man, sighed once more and, not wanting to seem like a jerk, said, "Okay, as long as you don't submit the picture to any social media sites immediately after you take it. Especially the LFUA."

The man, who had eagerly pulled out his camera phone, looked up in confusion at the last part that he had said. "The what now?"

"Lloyd Fans United App," he explained. "It's some sort of smartphone application that was created by some of my fans for the sole purpose of stalking me."

The man stared back at Lloyd in shock for a short while, then, shaking his head with disgust, replied, "Wow, some people just have way too much time on their hands."

Lloyd nodded, huffing, "Tell me about it. Now can we get this done? I really don't want to run into any of them on my way out."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Garmadon," the man said. "As you can see, business is pretty slow today."

Lloyd smirked and couldn't help but say, "Yeah, no sign of your 'regulars' today."

"Hey, they usually don't come around until later," the man pointed out defensively. "Most of them are busy working over at that mall across the street, the same abomination that's been sucking my customers our since its inception."

"Okay, okay, I take that back."

"Good," the man said. Then he turned and called, "Hey, Murray, can you come over and take a picture for me?"

A pimply, dark haired adolescent looking some years older than Lloyd walked out, groaning, "For the twentieth time Mr. Liang, my name's Michael!"

"Uh-huh," Mr. Liang replied absentmindedly, then shoved the phone in his arms. "Take this."

Michael rolled his eyes and said, "Okay, tell me when you're ready."

Michael set up the camera on the phone as Mr. Liang came around the counter and stood next to Lloyd.

"Ready," he replied after he smoothed out his short brown hair.

"Cheese," the teen unenthusiastically droned.

A small digital click sounded from the phone as the picture was taken.

"Great!" Liang exclaimed with renewed vigor. "Can't wait to get this one printed out and framed!"

"Just remember what I told you," Lloyd reminded the man as he walked out of the store.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," he replied, preoccupied with the excitement of having a picture of a celebrity. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about, Leonard. I don't even use this so-called 'social media'."

Lloyd sighed in exasperation and shouted behind his shoulder, "It's Lloyd!"

"Whatever!" The man yelled back. "And thanks for the favor."

Lloyd opened his bottle and took a swig of refreshing water.

"Much better," he muttered to himself as he wiped his mouth. He suddenly felt more focused now that he was hydrated, which made him think back to his current situation.

He knew that he couldn't simply go back to the mall, lest his fangirls find him again. On the other hand, he couldn't wander around aimlessly on a hot day like this because, with the hoodie that he was wearing, he'd eventually get heatstroke.

He could try to buy different clothes, but that probably wouldn't change a single thing. His fans would still recognize him no matter what he wore. They somehow had their way of hunting him down, possibly because he wore the same hairstyle all the time.

Wait a minute! That's it! He put the hood over his head and ran off, looking for the nearest barbershop.

* * *

A black haired barber with a bushy mustache looked up in surprise as the bronze bell hanging near his door rung violently, signaling the arrival of a customer. He shot up from his seat, almost knocking over from the table next to him a pencil and the Sudoku puzzle book that he had been working on and rushed over to greet whoever was at the door.

"Good afternoon," he greeted invitingly. "How may I serve you today?"

"Just need a haircut," the newcomer, an adolescent boy with a black hood hiding his hair, replied hastily. "Something new."

"That's great to hear," the man, though a bit suspicious the young man's motives for wearing a sweater in the triple digit temperatures, said in a friendly manner. "What type of style are you looking for exactly?"

As he pulled off his hood, he replied, "Something that doesn't let people recognize me."

Once the barber laid his eyes on the boy's entire facial appearance, his eyes almost bulged out of his sockets as he recognized him. "You- you're-"

"Yeah, I know. I'm the Green Ninja. Look can we please get on with this," Lloyd replied testily, really not wanting to have someone else gawk over the fact that he was around. He was seriously starting to miss the days when people wouldn't give him a second glance, which was ironic, considering that when he had the body of a little kid, he wanted people to recognize him. It was different though, since, nowadays, he was looked upon with admiration instead of fear like he had once desired.

"Okay, I see," the barber said, looking over the long blonde locks of hair. "Hmm, I'll get a catalogue for you to look through."

"Thanks," Lloyd said as he sighed with relief. Then, he walked over to one of the barber chairs and took a seat.

The barber came back a moment later, with the thick catalog. "Here you go."

Lloyd took the heavy book and opened it. He rapidly scanned through dozens of images for a haircut that he liked.

After several moments of flipping through pages, Lloyd found a layered hairstyle that seemed just right.

"I'd like this one," he told the barber, pointing to the image.

The man grimaced with uneasiness as he said, "Err, I haven't had someone ask for that style in a long time. But, hey, I'll give it a shot!" He took the catalog from Lloyd and walked off to put it back behind the counter. He came back moments later with his tools and an apron for Lloyd to wear.

Lloyd put on the black apron while the man took a spray bottle from the counter.

As he sprayed water on Lloyd's head of hair, the barber said, "I can't help, but ask what in the world are you doing out here in the mall. I could've sworn that you were busy doing interviews with several news channels regarding your victory against the Overlord."

Lloyd closed his eyes and relaxed in the chair as the small droplets of cool water hit his heated forehead.

After thinking over a good response, he replied,"Well, I decided to tag along with my teammates. They came here to do some errands."

"You're talking about the Ninja, right?"

"Yeah," Lloyd said, smiling as he thought about how they were faring right now. "I came over to visit them at the new school."

"That's nice of you," the barber mused. "I honestly haven't heard much about them ever since the defeat of the Overlord."

"Well, yeah, they've been pretty busy trying to get ready for their new jobs as teachers."

He snipped a few inches from the boy's long bangs as he replied, "I wish them luck."

He smiled, sinking into the comfortable chair. "I'm sure they'd appreciate that."

The barber stopped, frowning slightly. "Please sit up straight. I won't be able to get this done correctly if you keep slouching like that."

The boy shot up, eyes opening momentarily, and he grinned apologetically. "Oops."

"That's better, thank you." He continued snipping, occasionally diverting his attention back to the catalog page.

Several minutes passed, much longer than he had anticipated, and he felt himself nodding to sleep from not getting the haircut done. He woke up fully when he heard the barber repeatedly curse heatedly under his breath and he slowly roused.

He was not prepared for what he would see.

In front of him was what could be best described as a sloppy nest of straw, with strands of hair more uneven on the left side of his face compared to the right. The straws stuck at weird angles in the air, with some of them intertwining with each other in short ropes. His bangs, if they could even be called that anymore, defied gravity.

In short, the haircut was terrible. Uglier than he, or anyone, could have imagined. Not even the horrific bowl haircut that he was constantly teased over at Darkley's compared to this.

His face rapidly brightened red, from a mix of extreme embarrassment, utter confusion, and pent-up fury.

Any other person would have yelled at the barber, shouted obscenities that would have any parent in a 25 foot radius cover their children's ears tightly. With his influence, he could have this man out of business by the end of the day. His honed elemental powers could've easily destroyed the establishment within a matter of minutes.

Instead, all Lloyd could focus on now was the barber's contorted face, tears almost leaking from the corners of his eyes.

"I'm so sorry Lloyd. I though that I could fix it by taking off a few inches from certain areas, but, but-" the man couldn't take it anymore and broke out in a melodramatic sob, covering his face with the sleeve of his blouse. "I ruined it! It's so terrible!"

Lloyd pursed his lips, not sure what to say to console the man. He was more than sure that he felt more than sorry about having messed a haircut. Suddenly, he felt ashamed. Maybe he had been slumping a bit during the haircut and prevented the barber from getting his job done.

Did it matter who's fault it was? Looking back up at the man, who was currently wallowing in a puddle of self-pity, Lloyd decided that, even if the man had been the one to ruin the cut, it was an honest mistake. He did tell him that he wasn't too good at giving him the haircut that he had asked for, so he should have known what he was going to be getting himself into. Taking one more glance at his hair though the mirror, he wondered how long it would take to grow back and whether it would matter if it were shorter.

With a sigh, Lloyd made his decision.

"I think this can still be fixed."

The man peered up from his sleeve and sniffled, meekly asking, "You do?"

Lloyd momentarily wondered how he would explain this to Nya and the guys once he met up with them. He put those concerns at the back of his mind as he went on with his idea.

He nodded. "You've got a razor on hand, right?"


	7. Toilet Water Triggers

**A/N: Another surprise update on the story, made very, very late! Not only that, but it's pretty short compared to the last one I put out.**

**Thanks to AveXCninja11 for reminding me to get back onto this. I hope that you like the chapter!**

* * *

**Toilet Water Triggers**

Nya wasn't the type to frequent department stores during her free time.

Now, this wasn't because she didn't like shopping. She honestly did! But, as far as she knew, there wasn't a mall in the area that has an outlet store that specialized in the traditional kimonos that she loved wearing. That, and she usually bought her Western-style clothing from online store websites. For these reasons, she never understood the purpose of driving all the way to this particular mall. Why waste the time and gas getting clothes directly from a factory store when you could just wait a few days and have it delivered to your door?

So it shouldn't have come to no surprise to her that, in a matter of a few minutes, she got easily lost inside of the department store, among the large groups of families rushing along to try to grab as many deals as they could. Standing in the midst of chaos, between the "Fall Wear" section and "Latest Fashions" sections.

Yes, the exasperating irony didn't escape her. Samurai X, lost in the mall like a little child...

Her trained eyes rapidly darted back and forth between signs, trying to find the "Petite" sign hanging from the ceiling. Her thoughts were soon interrupted as she was shoved aside by yet another family making their way to the "School Wear" part of the store.

"Hey!"

Fortunately, despite being bulldozed by a portly woman and her three rowdy kids, she twisted her body and stayed on her feet, preventing herself from getting trampled by the other shoppers. Infuriated, she opened her mouth in protest, but didn't have time to yell out at that family for being so rude though, as she looked behind her and saw more people coming through.

Expertly moving to one side of the stream of people, she tried to locate a map to help her navigate through the store.

Though she didn't find a directory, it wasn't long until she made her way to several elegant counters with make-up samples displayed for all to see. Though Nya's main objective was finding professional clothing, she couldn't help but curiously scan through the various colors brands, briefly wondering if she could get herself a new lipstick that would match her outfit after she found what she needed.

"Hiya there!"

Nya whipped her head toward the direction of the voice, wondering if the greeting was toward her.

"Yeah, hon, I'm talking to you."

Standing behind a pristine glass counter was an older woman with dyed blonde hair, curled up at the tips to make it seem like it had more body. Her painted red lips parted into a wide smile as she caught Nya's attention and motioned her over.

Nya quickly realized that, instead of looking for the directory, she could've instead asked someone who worked at the store to point her in the direction of Women's Wear.

Sniffling a little from something that seemed to irritate her nostrils, she asked, "Hi, could you tell me where the 'Petite's' section is?"

"Huh?" She appeared genuinely confused for a moment. "I'm sorry, I don't really where that is."

Nya deflated, her shoulders slumping slightly. "Oh."

Noticing her disappointment, the woman quickly added, "Wait, but the women's section is right on the 2nd floor."

Nya smiled. "Thanks!"

The woman grinned back, her eyes crinkling slightly. "Glad to help ya, sweetheart! But ya might have trouble finding what ya need. That whole floor is dedicated to women's clothing."

Nya nodded, keeping in mind that there might be less shoppers in the floor above. She mentally braced herself for the hoard of mall-goers what would be using the escalators to get to the other parts of the store.

"I think I can handle looking through one section. Thanks for the concern though!" She turns on her heel, about to walk off toward the middle of the store where she had spotted the escalator earlier.

"Hold on there, don't run off just yet!"

Nya paused mid-step, then turned around.

"Could ya at least stick around a second longer to tell me if ya think this smells nice?"

Her eyes widened as she saw the woman pull out a perfume bottle and paper sampler.

Looking at her surroundings, she was horrified to see that she was currently in the "Fragrances" section of the department store.

"Wait, I'm-"

A spritz interrupted her as the woman sprayed the paper. "It's a new addition to the Rosali collection. Personally ah think that it smells nicer than the last ones put out, but that could've just been me-"

Nya fell into a fit of sneezes as she backed away from the counter, almost bumping into other shoppers. Passerby-ers stared at her when she wouldn't stop.

"Oh, oh!" The woman panicked as she witnessed Nya's allergic reactions. "Ah am so sorry, ah didn't know!"

"I'll- ACHOO! I'll bwe- awight," Nya replied behind her arm, then sniffled loudly. "I'll just be on my- AHCOO! Way…"

Abandoning the scene, Nya ran at full-speed toward the escalator, desperately trying to escape the smell that seems to pursue her and get somewhere quiet to administer her Epipen.


End file.
